Gayman eager to take ideas to House
Three weeks ago, Elesha Gayman scored one of the biggest upsets in Quad-City politics this year by defeating incumbent Rep. James Van Fossen, R-Davenport, in western Scott County’s 84th House District.
Gayman’s victory was remarkable in that she wasn’t given much of a chance of winning.
Even her own party did not target the race, though she did get some financial help from Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Gayman has a way of turning heads, friends say.
She did it when she was a 13-year-old arguing against a youth curfew at Davenport City Hall.
She did it by earning a spot at the Democratic National Convention two years ago. And she did it again by winning one of the first endorsements handed out in this year’s campaign season by the Democracy for America political action committee.
Come January, the 28-year-old Gayman gets another chance to impress: in Des Moines, with the opening of the 2007 Iowa legislative session.
Friends say they are confident of her success.
“She’s smart, she’s motivated. She wants to do a good job,” says Bev Strayhall, a veteran Davenport activist and supporter. “I think she’ll be a star.”
Gayman, whose family has deep roots in west Davenport, is the youngest Quad-Citian to be elected to the Iowa Legislature in a decade, and she’ll be among eight legislators younger than 30 who will take seats there. That is a change for a governing body whose members’ average age is 52.
Gayman campaigned on the idea that the capitol was lacking in a young person’s point of view, and she’s eager to take her ideas to the Statehouse to try to stanch the flow of young people out of Iowa, a major problem for the state.
A college graduate with $67,000 in outstanding debt, she says her life experiences will provide valuable insight at the Legislature.
“I can tell you what it’s like to be someone my age in this particular time in this particular state,” Gayman said the other day.
She has proposed creating a commission aimed at coming up with ideas to stop the flow. Gayman also says she would like to resurrect a Davenport group from the 1990s that got young people involved in civic activities.
Her age, friends say, was a benefit during the campaign. But they add that her intelligence and preparation is what won them over.
“Originally, I wasn’t even too interested in meeting with her,” says Quad-City Federation of Labor President Jerry Messer, a key political power broker in the area. But “she was more prepared than anyone I’ve ever seen. She knew what she was doing.”
Gayman insists that while she is winning attention for her youth, she will represent everyone in her legislative district, no matter their age. ” It’s going to be our job to represent the rest of our demographics, too,” she said.
Gayman is kidded by friends about her political future, but she brushes off questions about what she might do down the road. For now, she’s looking forward to taking her seat in the Legislature. And she appears to relish the idea that, as a young woman who says she was “very introverted” as a child, she might serve as something of a role model to other young women.
“If I can serve to be a role model to other young Iowans, especially young women ... I’m happy to take that as part of my job description,” she added.
Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.
early start
Elesha Gayman is the youngest Quad-Citian to be elected to the Iowa Legislature in a decade. The 28-year-old began turning heads at an early age, her friends say:
* At age 13, she argued against a youth curfew at Davenport City Hall
* She earned a spot at the Democratic National Convention two years ago
* She won one of the first endorsements handed out in this year’s campaign season by the Democracy for America political action committee
* Three weeks ago, she was elected to the Iowa Legislature, defeating James Van Fossen